1. Statement of the Invention
This invention relates to a split horn arrangement for packaging meat or like products into a stretchable casing material such as stretchable netting. The invention also relates to a method for packaging a product into the stretchable casing using the split horn arrangement.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to use horns for the purpose of packaging meat or like products in stretchable netting of the type taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,668, Mintz, issued May 26, 1970 and assigned to the assignee hereof. Such horns are required to keep the netting in its open, receiving position while the meat is being inserted therein. With such arrangements, the netting is first stretched and pulled over the outside surface of the horn adjacent the front meat packaging (netting loading) end thereof. Meat is then inserted into the back (meat loading) end of the horn and pushed through a tunnel to the meat packaging end.
As the meat emerges from the tunnel from an upper member having depending side walls and a lower member having upwardly extending side walls, the netting surrounds and envelopes the emerging meat. Because of the elasticity of the netting, the netting will cling to the meat and move with it.
As will be appreciated, stretching the netting and loading the stretched netting onto the horn is a difficult process, especially when the tunnel must have wide openings to accommodate large pieces of meat. To reduce these difficulties, the split horn was developed.
With the split horn, the diameter of the tunnel is reduced while the netting is loaded. When the netting has been loaded, the horn is opened up (the tunnel is widened) to accommodate large pieces of meat. The netting will, of course, stretch to fit the larger tunnel size when the horn is opened.
There are several difficulties with the split horns as presently known: Because the netting is loaded by hand, it is difficult and time consuming to load the netting even on the closed horn. After the netting is loaded, and especially when a large amount of netting is loaded, opening the horn could be difficult. As the depending walls of the upper member of the horn is usually disposed within the upwardly extending walls of the lower member of the horn, meat could get stuck between the walls to clog the horn and hamper its operation. To overcome this difficulty, the depending walls are usually made to extend back to the meat loading end of the horn which is expensive and inconvenient.